February 2000, marked the launch of SalvAide’s new project “Empowering women: A micro-credit initiative in the south of La Libertad”. This project will benefit 70 women from 11 communities in the south of La Libertad, a very isolated and disadvantaged region of El Salvador.

The main goal of the project is to establish a credit program that can foster women’s economic activities as well as promote women’s participation in community organization of the region. The credit program will have two components. It will provide 40 women with operating loans to start small businesses and will also involve the set up of a “cattle bank” that (in the first stage) will benefit 15 women.

The project also includes training of 70 women in issues relating small business and the environment. It also includes undertaking of several educational campaigns on gender equity, women’s involvement in productive activities, and the advantages for women to integrate the local credit union.

The Cordes Foundation, SalvAide’s main partner in this initiative, will work in partnership with the local credit union and Codesma, the Cripdes regional organization.

The communities that will benefit from the micro credit initiative face serious socio-economic problems. There are high levels of poverty in these communities, their natural resources are seriously degraded, and the land is poor in quality. The residents of these communities have little experience with small business initiatives and are denied access to credit from the formal financial system. All of these factors make the project challenging but greatly needed.